ASUS A7N8X Del IDE Problem??

[Captain_Jon]

For the last little while I have been having lots of problems with my computer! Regular reboots; problems with rebooting; Can't find hard drive error messages; regular clicking sound and whirring sounds from hard drive access (often followed by a system freeze or reboot). At times when I restart the system I have to do a WinXP 'R' (repair) or it will not reboot. At times I am forced into a Chkdsk situation which generally generates a bunch of errors in index files (?). Even when I do get it to reboot it takes several minutes to get up and running!

Thinking that maybe I had some hard drive problems I ran the Western Digital diagnostics software and found no problems. I opened up the case and changed the IDE cable with no impact. I also moved the hard drive IDE cable to the secondary (black) IDE connector on the Mobo with no apparent improvement. I am currently running Spinrite6 software to test the hard drives but all looks okay so far. Interestingly this software, which runs under a DOS operating system, has been running for the last 21 hours without any reboots or other problems!

I am wondering if the Mobo IDE connectors are the problem... Any ideas on this problem? Is there any way to test the IDE connectors?? The other thought I had was that maybe the Antec power supply was the issue... again what do I look for to check this out??

Any help or thoughts would be appreciated...

 

[Tedster]

that particular motherboard is notorious for being flakey. I had one that wouldn't recognize the memory I put in it. I quickly got rid of it.

 

[YellowC4S]

clicking sounds from the Hd could be signs of Hd failure. I run that same MOBO in one of my desktops and it has been a good MOBO for me.

 

[Captain_Jon]

Clicking sounds from the HD also made me think that I had a problem with the hard drives... but I ran both the manufacturer's diagnostic tests and SpinRite6 software against both drives with absolutely no errors!

This is why I am down to concluding that is most likely the IDE controller on the motherboard! However I would really like to know if there is any way to test this controller???

The only other thing that I can think of is that the Power supply is causing a problem... again I don't know how to test for this... nor do I know if it makes sense that a faulty power supply would cause the problems I am encountering.

Any ideas out there??

 

[Captain_Jon]

Not a lot of replies to this one!!

Assuming that it is the IDE controller... is there a type of expansion card that I could buy that would allow me to operate?

If so...

- is there a certain type of card that I would need to buy?
- will I lose access speed by going this route?
- do these card come with two controllers like the motherboard that would allow me to install my 2 hard drives (master/slave) & my DVD drive??

Before someone suggests scrapping the motherboard (for whatever reason) please note that I really need to get this thing up and running as quickly as possible so I am looking for a quick fix. I plan to build a 64bit computer in the future but not now...

Thanks for any ideas...

 

[Tedster]

you can buy SATA/IDE controller PCI cards. They're not very expensive.

 

[Captain_Jon]

Follow Up... Problem Solved!

I borrowed a computer from someone who has a very similar setup as mine... and through trial and error I found that in fact the problem was the power supply!

I went out and bought a new one and all is well in the world again!

Who would have thunk???